When Sally Ngoje bought her one-way ticket to Nairobi from New York, US, it was not out of impulse. It was the result of years of restlessness, and an ache for something more—something closer to home. She had wrapped up her life in New York, moved out of her apartment, stayed with family for a while, even travelled across Central America in a final bid to quiet the uncertainty that hovered over her decision.
But as her plane left the US, Sally knew she wasn’t just coming to Kenya for a visit; she was returning home.
The 28-year-old management consultant, entrepreneur, and serial traveller was born in New Jersey to Kenyan parents. Though she grew up in the US, the pull of her roots was constant.
“My parents were born here and relocated to America before I was born,” she says.
She had visited Kenya several times as a child but had stayed away for 17 years. In that time, she had earned a sociology degree from Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, launched Maua Organics, a beauty brand, and worked at a technology company in New York. She had also visited 17 countries, lived in four, and built a promising career. Yet a persistent question kept returning: What does happiness really look like?
“I was in this place where I was checking all the boxes—career, life, experiences—and I found out I was unfulfilled,” she says. “So, I took a sabbatical. It was only natural to visit Kenya because I have family here.”
“I leaned on that fear, which in hindsight was a bridge for me to chart my own path and grow my own wings,” she says.
What was meant to be a two-month visit turned into six. She began collaborating with Nairobi-based creatives, plugged Maua Organics into the city’s vibrant startup ecosystem, and slowly started reimagining what life could look like living in Kenya.
Sally Ngoje is a Management Consultant.
Photo credit: Pool
Sally looks at Nairobi as an entrepreneurship hub, a city with the potential to comfortably establish her many business ideas and see them grow into profitable enterprises.
“One of the key factors for me was, as an entrepreneur, are there opportunities, or are there more red tape than where I was coming from? I looked at the different sectors, different cities, and different countries. I realised Nairobi is unexplored. I tell people it's the New York City of Africa. I know South Africa and Nigeria compete for similar accolades, but Kenya is the real deal. When it comes to innovation, the talent, the entrepreneurs that I'm seeing, the different tech companies, there's just so much innovation happening so quickly.
Applying for Kenyan citizenship
"I think for people that have a lot of entrepreneurial spirit, drive, people that want to build and create new things and are really ready to put their feet on the ground and invest, Kenya is a great place and the direction of the trajectory of where I see that Kenya is going, this is one of the greatest places to be as a young entrepreneur, with all of the different things that I want to do, businesses that I want to start.
"Creative projects that I have in mind, I not only feel inspired here, but also, I am able to meet and connect with people who also have that same kind of spirit, and who also have the desire to get involved, and they want to help introduce me to people. I find that a very supportive environment and community. This is something that I think is also a little bit rare to come across. For example, in New York, the competition there is cutthroat. No one has time to show friendliness and camaraderie.”
She enjoys the privilege of having Kenyan parents, and therefore applying for Kenyan citizenship by descent is an easier process.
Sally Ngoje is a Management Consultant.
Photo credit: Pool
“I get asked a lot about this when people consult me about relocating to Kenya. I have dual citizenship now, and I am currently working on getting my East African passport as well. Because my parents were both born here, it made my process a lot less troublesome than it would have been otherwise. I took advantage of my mother’s visit to Kenya, we went to Nyayo House, where we did the required paperwork enabling me to go through that process relatively quickly, compared to a lot of people, I think even quicker than some people that have been able to get dual citizenship through parental birthright,” she says.
However, relocation means accommodation, business registration and linking up with people. Sally was lucky to have been in Nairobi before and, as a consequence, had mapped and cut out her way around the city, such as Westlands, Kilimani, and Karen, where she frequents for shopping and social events.
To the newbies and first timers, she feels one needs to do a proper survey for ease and comfort.
“You don’t want to land in a new country with your bags and be stranded at the airport. Research about the city you are moving into, the housing situation, and compare it with where you are coming from. For example, in New York, most apartments come with appliances and furniture; you just move in with your clothes. In Kenya, to find such an apartment means you pay three or four times more than the normal rent.
"One needs to know this and prepare for it adequately. A person relocating also needs to figure out their movement around their city of residence. Online taxi services make it easy, so research the apps available and pick the ones that suit you. This is true for all the services you need,” she adds.
Her experience led her to identify a gap in this market, which prompted her to form a relocation consultancy—Kariboo Experience (Kariboo is a corruption of Karibu, Swahili for welcome).
“There is a loss in the sense of the community you have built for years, but I have made peace that in adulthood sometimes paths split and people go separate ways, for those we are still in touch, our biggest challenge is the time zone differences, it can get exhausting to try play catchup with time but it all works out in the end. I try as much as I can to go out now that Kenya is home, build a Kenyan community, new networks and friendships, because again, community is important. In terms of convenience and access to service, New York and Nairobi are peers. I don’t suffer any inconvenience. Additionally, I get to enjoy fresh food. Nairobi is a diverse city; you can go to the mall down the road or hop on a boda boda and go to a fresh food market on the other end of the same road, and you will be spoilt for choice. Such contrasts are not as common in New York,” she says.
Sally estimates that for one to comfortably relocate alone, they need between $5,000-$10,000 (Sh650,185 to Sh1.3 million) to have one’s feet firmly on the ground. This, she says, takes care of a one-way air ticket, a one-bedroom rental apartment, basic appliances and furniture.
“This is an estimation and may exceed according to one’s need. Like I have said, Nairobi has extremes, modesty and ultra luxury all mixed into one pot,” she says.
